


It's Gonna Be OK

by Machancheese



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Embarrassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Panic Attack, Sensory Overload, Smol Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 01:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23003734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machancheese/pseuds/Machancheese
Summary: Malcolm gets a little worked up and has a little freak out in front of the whole precinct.
Relationships: Gil Arroyo & Malcolm Bright
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666942
Comments: 10
Kudos: 109





	It's Gonna Be OK

The team was dealing with a specifically rough case - nothing they couldn't handle - but this profile seemed to be a particularly hard one for Malcolm. Every profile he could think of just wouldn’t line up with the killer. He was already a little anxious, knowing him, and his mother had arranged to go visit his father for the first time tomorrow morning since Martin had returned to Clairmont after Malcolm had stabbed him. The guilt that weighed on Malcolm destroyed him, now knowing he was one step closer to being like his father. He was already on the edge of a panic attack and now, with this case, he had a pounding migraine to go with it.

The lights in the empty conference room of the precinct were blindingly bright, causing his migraine to spike, and the muted noises from outside the walls began to irritate him and made it impossible to concentrate. 

Gil, Dani, and JT filed into the room, loudly discussing something Malcolm couldn’t grasp. He winced when their intense chatter filled the small inclosed space, contrasting the silence from before. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, almost like he was praying for it all to just go away for a second. The lights, the sounds, the thoughts, everything just finally becoming too much.

It just kept building and building up, and then it all came crumbling down the second JT’s hand made contact with Malcolm's back.

"You good bro?" His voice boomed in Malcolm's ears.

It broke him. 

Malcolm quickly stood, throwing the chair back and running out of the room. Unfortunately, the precinct was busy, with civilians and officers everywhere. The loud conversations filled malcolms ears. He heard someone faintly call his name but everything else over ran it. He headed for the exit of the precinct, but he stumbled. He squinted through his blurry vision, breathing heavily, trying to make it through the different groups of people and desks but it was just all becoming too much too fast. 

He backed up to the nearest wall, sliding down it, putting his hands over his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. 

Only a few people in the precinct noticed Malcolm at first. Gil finally caught up to Malcolm, putting a hand on his shoulder. It took seconds before the contact was too uncomfortable for Malcolm. He snapped up escaping the burning touch.

“DON’T--DON’T TOUCH ME! I NEED IT TO STOP!” He shouted. His now red eyes were wild and filled with tears. He frantically looked around for any escape, ignoring all of the people watching him.

Gil took a step back, putting his hands up, trying to calm Malcolm down.

“Bright… what do you need to stop?” Gil gently asked.

“ITS TOO MUCH, EVERYTHING IS TOO MUCH” He shouted again, shaking his head and pulling at his hair.

Gil grabbed Malcolm and pushed him towards his office. When Malcolm tried to pull away and object, panicking more, Gil just gripped him tighter and pushed him harder. JT opened the door to Gil’s office, letting them in and closing the door. Malcolm heard JT shouting at the other officers to get back to work from outside the door. 

Stepping into Gil’s office instantly helped some of the panic melt away. Gil kept the lights off, and the officers outside were once again muted, letting his migraine have a second of relief.

Gil led Malcolm to his couch and pushed him down. Malcolm closed his eyes, trying to get a hold of his breath and calm the pounding in his head.

“How are you doing? What happened out there?” Gil questioned, crouching in front of him. 

“I-I just need to get some rest.”

“Malcolm, I am really concerned. How you acted out there is not normal. This is more than a few missed nights of sleep. What's going on?” Gil asked again.

“Everything is so loud!... and bright!... and my thoughts won't leave me alone, y-yet I can't think at all!” Malcolm cried out, frustrated. 

“Take a breath, kid. You just got a little too worked up. This isn’t the first time this has happened. I’m going to go grab you some water.” Gil comforted, gripping Malcolm’s neck before standing up and walking out of the room. Gil only opened the door as far as needed to slip through and closed it quietly, trying his best to keep the light out and the room silent.

Malcolm took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. His head still pounded but it had simmered down quite a bit and the panic was subsiding. Now that most of it had passed, Malcolm felt exhausted and embarrassed. The whole precinct just watched him break down for absolutely no reason. He already didn’t have a great reputation, but this definitely wouldn’t help. He was wasting time lying there instead of working on his profile. A single tear streamed down his cheek. He was so frustrated with himself. Why couldn’t he stop messing stuff up?

The door clicked open and in walked Gil with a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers. Malcolm sat back up, pulling his feet up on the couch and pulling his knees close to his chest. Gil came and sat down by Malcolm, handing him the water and grabbing a couple pills from the bottle before also passing them to him. Malcolm swallowed the pills, handing Gil back the glass before resting his chin on his knees.

Gil started to rub his back and let him settle down. 

“I don’t ever want to leave this room again.” Malcolm mumbled into his knees.

“I wish I could keep you in here forever, but I can’t. You'd go stir crazy within an hour.” Gil chuckled.

“You’re right about that.” Malcolm smiled, leaning back again with Gil’s arm still behind him. 

“It’s gonna be ok, Malcolm.” Gil whispered, pulling Malcolm towards him. Malcolm laid his head on Gil’s shoulder, closing his eyes with a hum. 

“It’s gonna be ok.” Gil repeated.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Bad Things Happen Bingo Card Prompt. I hope you enjoyed! Again thank you to [hellbent_panda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellbent_panda/pseuds/hellbent_panda) for editing my work!


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